Ukraine: Cold war is over

There is no point in me trying to do an up to the minute blog post cos everything is and will change by the hour.

Let's put it this way: War is happening in Ukraine, it may not be declared as such by Russia but it has and started around 3 am UK time with movements involving sea, land and air from Crimea, Russia and Belarus in a  military  operation to "demilitarize and denazify"

Excuse me while I fill a paper bag: Whatever one may think of Ukraine's politicians and President, they are not Nazi's, they aren't opposed ethnically to Russians, rounding up, ill treating and killing them nor are they antisemitic.

They are not and have not waged war on Russia or anyone else: they have had Russian weapons and disguised soldiers fight them before and weapons leave bases in Russia crossing the border with no one asking what tanks and rocket launchers are doing leaving.

Find me a base anywhere in the world where I could walk out with this stuff without being arrested or killed even UNLESS it's approved.

It's not about beefing up the so called independent Peoples Republics Russian President Putin "recognized" two days ago security, already rockets have been fire well into Ukraine such as Kiev, the Capital.

It is nothing less than than a take over by war on a continent largely free from it since WW2, a total rejection of the right of a peoples to self determination and national sovereignty and a potential threat to other actual Nato member states that will drag more soldiers and weapons on their soil directly facing Russia.

Cold war is over: It's on fire now. It's not WW3 but could easily escalate.

 

Talking cold war blues

 

Somehow between two storms I somehow doubt I'll be out especially with no coat on today around by the park but more sat by the fire doing a spot of colouring or watching the tv.

This business around Ukraine, Nato and Russia is a big concern, not just in terms of the number of armed services massed, some 60% but also of weapons supplied and from that the potential for war between the West and Russia, something most of us thought had gone by the early 1990's with the reunification of Germany and former independent countries absorbed into the USSR.

To me given the whole messed up by design post WW2 borders and forced ethic cleansing and transposing trying to rejig the lot whatever grievances there may be only risks greater uncertainty and tension as unpicking any one has knock on effects.

There was a deliberate attempt to move ethnic Russians into non Russian territory where to this day they may comprise of a sizable minority and as we saw in 2014 in the Eastern Ukraine, following the replacement by election of a pro Russian president for one who was not, ethic Russians seeing their allegiance to Russian with ill disguised military support established breakaway states that were for all intents and purposes outposts of Russia in Ukraine before we consider the annexation of the Crimea.

However this heightened tension goes, the other thing is if Russia has a concern about having the West in form of Nato next door, this action is more likely to have encouraged existing former members of the Warsaw Pact and parts of the Soviet Union to be more involved with Nato with more weapons, troops and joint exercises because they'd fear more intervention in their own affairs.

It is likely to result in the very opposite of what they intended, a return to "Greater Russia" and Russian zone of influence around its backyard because it shows Russia to be a threat.

The past is over so you have to get over it.

Reflections on the Beatles on CD 2022 edition

This year is the sixtieth year since that first rather Bluesy beatles single Love Me Do was issued, some thirty-five years since the first regular Beatles product appeared on cd and thirteen years since the last major series of remastered cds.

To me it's a good point assess just how that legacy in the modern digital formats stacks up as while vinyl editions remain available new and of course there are stacks of used older editions from around the world to be had, for most digital is the format of convenience.

Their output appeared in two sets of mixes mono and stereo, sometimes with very marked differences and so it's apples and oranges when it comes to comparing each and with digital with just two exceptions those editions are identical world wide.

Comparing the two main studio albums series available individually the original 1987 issues and the 2009 stereo remasters the main change was that the first four albums were mono only in 1987.

Thus in general terms if you want stereo, then really you have little choice which is unfortunate because to be honest I was disappointed overall with how the whole stereo series sounded.

Comparing the two main sets it is clear the act of transferring the original analogue tapes to a high resolution digital transfer was better on the 2009 set avoiding such errors as playing mono tapes on a stereo machine that can and did show the sound altering between the channels and sounding phasy too especially on Please Please Me.

Where it all went wrong was how those transfers were equalized, often sounding bloated in the bass on on some tracks in an attempt to deal with the strident original sound losing any high frequency detail.

Take the famous opening chord on A Hard Day's Night in the stereo cd.

It is muted in its high end and sounds as if the tape is mangled for a few seconds which the stereo mix issued in 1993's first cd issue of the 1962-1966 double album is not.

Much of that stereo cd version is murky in a way the original vinyl editions, heck even Capitol's Something New album on the earliest vinyl editions was not.

Comparing the stereo cd of A Hard Day's Night to the tracks within the 2014 US Albums set that used the same transfers, you can hear better equalization choices and clearer sound on that showing it was those steps that went wrong.

This said while like the whole set there is a bit of limiting going on, actually the stereo Beatles For Sale sounds better than any mono issue and can be recommended.

The stereo Please Please Me and With The Beatles  if you need stereo are acceptable although the mono mixes in the Beatles In Mono box to my ears sound better.

For A Hard Day's Night the only physical copy on cd  that can be recommended is the mono edition in the Mono Box.

If the stereos were a disappointment, that mono box was a gem and remains so and not just for reasons of sound and things like the Mono Sergeant Pepper it's also for this.

In vinyl cutting there's always a gap - banding - between songs and back in the day it was around six seconds which that set preserves but the stereo 2009 set reduces it to about three which isn't long enough for you focus on the next song sounding more like a playlist than an actual album.

Taking the next two albums up, both the 1987 and 2009 share a common issue, the use of a digital remix from 1986 that has solid state echo over applied and with the exceptions of certain Canadian Cinram/Disque Americ pressed copies that used a previously supplied original stereo transfer in error, the Japan 50th anniversary and Beatles in Mono boxes are the only ones on digital formats.

I wouldn't recommend either the 1987 or 2009 on grounds of authenticity or sound quality and not for the first time that Mono Box set comes to the rescue for having the actual 1965 stereo mixes which in case of Help always sounded better with good stereo mix included as bonuses.

I prefer Rubber Soul in mono as the extreme stereo separation drives me to distraction.

Revolver in stereo has a distracting mix but the 2009 is very bloated and murky sounding unlike the same tracks in the US Albums set split between the US Revolver and Yesterday & Today showing the same errors as in A Hard Day's Night.

She Said, She Said sounds dull on the 2009 stereo so my choice for the whole UK album on one disc is the 1987 which does sound more balanced if not perfect.

Really from this album through Sgt Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour "White Album", Abbey Road  and Let It Be, the bloat shows coupled with a diminished sound stage so while those with much money are free to chase the very rare 1983 Japan only Abbey Road, the rest of us are better off buying used copies of the 1987 releases which apart from the lack of bloat also have better dynamics.

Only Abbey Road and Let it Be were mixed in stereo only and the mono versions in the Mono box are great sounding of the others not least for the more complete and satisfactory mono mix of Sgt Pepper.

Overall I'd say get the Mono Box if you don't have it now, top up with the 2009 Beatles for Sale, add the 1987 stereos from Revolver to White Album if needed and straight to the 1987 last pair.

Past Masters is the catch up spot created in 1988 and neither are perfect as the 1988 set stays with mono until the four track I Want To Hold Your hand appears and has very very narrow stereo version of the two German Language tracks while the 2009 is stereo where available.

For how little used copies of the 1988 can be had, I'd get both as while for all but Get Back being a bit dull and the irritant of missed last drum fills on Ballad of John and Joko, Past Masters Vol:2 sounds easier on the ear than disc two in the 2009 but the 2009 Disc 1 while having a bit more bass than I care for has the stereo and is the only place for the stereo From Me To You in the catalogue.

If you got the Mono Box, then Mono Masters within it gives you the mono singles mixes that were not on any UK album served sounding really well and is better than the 1988/9 three inch  and 1991 five inch cd singles box sets for that material.

The 1992 EP Box set is usually ignored probably because today in terms of mixes there is only one variant in it and changing discs every six to eight minutes isn't for everyone.

That said, they were taken with the exception of Long Tall Sally and Magical Mystery Tour EP from tapes a generation down than the albums, do have a more warmer sound to them and do feature some unique cover art.

As well those EP's were conceived as just that so to just hear Long Tall Sally outside of anything else in the original mono is great while the Magical Mystery Tour set has the six songs in their EP tracklist order in mono and stereo and with Baby You're a Rich Man appearing in the bonus "stereo" EP a case can be made that armed with a cd of 1967-1970, you'd have all the songs in stereo.

That's because the Magical Mystery Tour album was the UK EP with two A sides, a Double A side and a B side of their most recent hits and so only all the A sides complete with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever are on 1967-1970.

The sound of the Magical Mystery Tour EP is fuller without being bloated on that set too.

I think it's worth having a set for those reasons apart from just handling a physical replica of discs teens bought back then although it's not essential.

The 2016 cleaned up Live at the Hollywood Bowl cover art aside is a better listen than the 1977 "At the Hollywood Bowl" lp and unofficial cds, managing to tame the audience screams and bring more of the performance off the tapes.

It is imperfect but offers a slice of what Beatlemania was all about that money cannot buy today, an expression of the Young People of the world to something that was so fresh and new.
 

The journey of life

 

The oddest of weeks in lots of ways with more than ones fair share of challenges along the way some things are becoming clearer.

From revisiting the blogs and even sites of the past however much as a person I have changed in that time, time itself can lead you toward staying with things that run their course long before you fully saw the distance from the rear mirror view.

That staying with things can seem to avoid the stresses and strains that to move on has when compared with keeping a door still part open, sometimes you just have to acknowledge in the final analysis that stable horse had bolted ultimately you can only follow through with being true to you.

The past after its last show becomes it because time has moved on.